The Invention involves systems for communicating between multiple electronic devices, such as consumer electronic devices, via interconnections such as digital data buses.
Data bus protocols such as the Consumer Electronics Bus, or CEBus, can be utilized for interconnecting consumer electronics devices such as television receivers, display devices, video-cassette recorders (VCR), and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) receivers. A bus protocol such as the CEBUS provides for communicating both control information and data. CEBus control information is communicated on a xe2x80x9ccontrol channelxe2x80x9d having a protocol defined in Electronics Industries Association (EIA) specification IS-60. Control information for a particular application can be defined using a form of programming language known as CAL (Common Application Language).
Consumer electronics devices are becoming increasingly complex and provide an ever-increasing number of features. While coupling these complex devices together via a data bus may be necessary to provide a complete audio-video (A/V) system, doing so creates numerous problems. For example, certain features of one device may require interaction with one or more devices coupled to the bus. A capability of one device may be needed to complete a particular operation in another device. Conflicts between the needs of various devices may arise.
A specific example of an A/V system involving complex electronic devices coupled via a data bus is a system that includes a digital VHS format (DVHS) VCR, such as that being developed by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc., of Indianapolis, Ind., and a DSS(copyright) satellite receiver, manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. The DVHS VCR can record either analog or digital signals. Various checks must occur before a recording can occur. For example, is the proper type of tape (analog or digital) loaded in the VCR? Is the user entitled to record a particular program: is the copyright status such that recording is permitted and has the user paid any fees required? Is the DSS(copyright) unit available to tune the desired program at the time a recording is to be made? Is the DSS(copyright) unit tuning the desired channel? In addition, a user must be informed, e.g., using on-screen display (OSD) messages, regarding the status of each device and what operations each device is performing. The complexity of each device and of the interactions involved creates a need for a robust system and method for communicating information between interconnected electronics devices.
The invention resides, in part, in recognizing the described problems and, in part, in providing a system and method for solving these problems. Generally, the present invention defines a method for operating a video recording apparatus in one of a digital recording mode and an analog recording mode. Particularly, the method comprises receiving either a digital video bit stream for recording in the digital recording mode or a corresponding analog video signal for recording in the analog recording mode, recording the digital video bit stream in the digital recording mode; and switching to the analog recording mode for recording the corresponding analog video signal in response to a fault condition.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention the digital video bit stream includes copyright information and the step of switching to the analog recording mode occurs in response to the copyright information.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention switching to the analog recording mode occurs in response to an analog recording media being loaded into the video recording apparatus.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention switching to the analog recording mode occurs in response to the digital video bit stream being absent while the video recording apparatus operates in the digital recording mode.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the method also comprises indicating the fault condition to a user and the step of switching to the analog recording mode occurs in response to receiving a user initiated command responsive to the indicated fault condition. Further, the method also comprises canceling the digital recording in response to receiving a user initiated command responsive to said indicated fault condition.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the recording apparatus is initialized to operate in a delay operating mode in response to a predetermined event for a second program and the recording apparatus pre-empts the recording of a first program to record the second program.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of error recovery for a video recording apparatus capable of recording in one of a digital recording mode and an analog recording mode comprises initializing the video recording apparatus to operate in a delay operating mode, receiving either a digital video bit stream for recording in the digital recording mode or a corresponding analog video signal for recording in the analog recording mode, recording the digital video bit stream in the digital recording mode in response to first copyright information received from an electronic program guide, and switching to the analog recording mode for recording the corresponding analog video signal in response to second copyright information received in the digital video bit stream.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the analog video signal and digital video bit stream are received from a receiver and the method also comprises disabling the generation of the digital video bit stream so the recording apparatus only receives said corresponding analog video signal. Recording may be canceled in response to a user""s indication that an analog recording is not desired.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the method also comprises indicating to a user that the event programmed in the delay operating mode may not be recorded because the first copyright information is not available or that because the video recording apparatus is presently operating in a playback mode.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of operating a video recording apparatus in one of a digital recording mode and an analog recording mode comprises receiving either a digital video bit stream for recording in the digital recording mode or a corresponding analog video signal for recording in the analog recording mode, selecting the digital recording mode, detecting a no-fault condition or a fault condition of the video recording apparatus, recording the digital video bit stream in the digital recording mode in response to the no-fault condition, and switching from the digital recording mode to the analog recording mode for recording the corresponding analog video signal in response to the fault condition.